A Filipino couple who have been working in Hong Kong as domestic workers since the 1980s and who have had three children in the city are seeking a judicial review of the government's decision to deny them right of abode.

The government yesterday said it had acted within the law when it charged dozens of refugees and torture claimants who had allegedly been working while remaining illegally in the city, saying the court should overturn an earlier ruling to the contrary.

Competition for talent is intense the world over and an uptake of less than a quarter of the annual quota of 1,000 admissions to a quality migrant scheme since June last year was satisfactory, an advisory panel has said.

The Immigration Department had received 992 applications by Monday. Of the 356 who were eligible, 238 received approval to migrate to the city.

More than 300 police and immigration officers yesterday cleared dozens of abode seekers from Chater Garden after protesters trapped Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee in her car for an hour on Wednesday night.

However justified their case to stay may be, right of abode seekers and their supporters unwisely allowed emotions to get the better of them when they trapped Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee inside her car on Wednesday.